Sai Praneeth beats Kashyap in a thriller

World Championships bronze medallist Sai Praneeth of Bengaluru Raptors held his nerves to beat Mumbai Rockets' Parupalli Kashyap to help the defending champions remain in contention for the semi-finals at the Premier Badminton League here on Tuesday.

In a thrilling match that saw two of India's best men's singles shuttlers locking horns, Sai Praneeth edged the 2014 Commonwealth Games champion 15-14, 14-15, 15-14.

Kashyap came out firing right from the first point. Raining his smashes down relentlessly, the world No. 25 had Sai Praneeth on the ropes initially as he surged to 8-2 lead.

It was only after the break in the first game that Sai Praneeth was able to find his aggression as he closed the gap to 9-11 in a remarkable turnaround.

Sai Praneeth used body smashes to tie the score at 14-14 before the game point was decided on a challenge and it went in favour of the Bengaluru player.

High on confidence after making a strong comeback in the first game, Sai Praneeth kept his momentum ...